Wednesday, 14 August 2013

This is an un-researched blog so don't waste
yours or, more importantly, my time attempting to correct me on any points I
make. However, please feel free to lavish me with praise for any valid points I do happen to make. I
have an incredibly high tolerance threshold for praise.

So...(caveat - this post is not about Caitlin Moran but she was the catalyst for it).Whatever you think of Caitlin Moran's
selfless/vanity (delete as per your own preference) project, it didn't change anything - it raised the profile of
the 'online abuse' - gave the media something
else they don't fully comprehend, to comment about but it had flickered and
died shortly after Moran and her acolytes resumed tweeting.

Remember the '1,000,000 people' that marched
against the war in Iraq - they didn't change anything. The incursion still
happened. We didn't find WMDs - quelle surprise. Then we voted in the Tories
('well, technically it's a coalition' - blah fuck off blah). Go figure.

What about the Twitter hordes - of which I was one
- who were angry yet hardly shocked at The News of the World hacking Millie
Dowler's mobile phone - did we change anything? I mean, we've not had any more hacking incidents but are we to assume that it won't happen again?

Closer to home, for me anyway, Rangers fans who want Charles Green and his cohorts
out of the clubwill not precipitate his exit
with protest - no matter how many banners they take to games or derogatory songs they sing
in his direction.I think everyone that participates in protest tacitly acknowledges this too. Apart from the really thick ones, that is.

Us Western Worlders live in
democracies. Democracy is as close to an ideal form of governance there is - that's
the accepted wisdom, right?

We can all vote once we're 18.

We have freedom of speech.

Freedom of expression.

Generally speaking, male, female, black and white,
are all equal.

This is the way we want it, this is the society we
created - we have it all. Don't we?

Nope.

For all we do have, we are largely impotent.

Not Pele 'impotent' but we're as ineffective as his flaccid member all the same. (Thinking about this further (too far, perhaps)
(parenthesis within parenthesis there - like a punctuation version of
Inception) - Maradona would probably have been a better advertising campaign
figurehead for Viagra when you consider his penchant for Colombian marching
powder).Anyway...

Want to write a critical news article about the
government? Fine.

Want to protest publicly? Fill your boots. (apply for a
licence).

Want to tweet that David Cameron is a cunt? Bash on.Our protests achieve nothing but perpetuating the illusion that we, the proletariat, as
a society, are in control of the world we live in. Maybe they're just enough to stir the blood and trick us into thinking we're serving a significant purpose on this planet.

Most of us - especially me - get bored of any
prolonged campaign for change surprisingly quickly. It's tiresome and we want to watch
Mad Men or argue about just how disgusting Gareth Bale's transfer fee was.

We're the 'pre-grated cheese generation'.

The notable exception here are the people of Liverpool and their football club. Their unrelenting pursuit for justice wasn't just about Hillsborough - they represented 'us' versus 'the system' and it's that level of devotion to a cause that gets shit done.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, we've sacrificed the power to effect change for democratic civility. I'd say, generally, this is to our benefit. Murders and other shit things like that are relatively rare - and that's a good thing but we should acknowledge that it has come at a cost.

So, if Moran wants change - she's gonna have
to be more dogged than a 24hr silence on Twitter. If Rangers fans want Green
out, we're gonna have to unite and force it to happen through the boardroom. And if we want to prevent our
government taking action that is contrary to our wishes we have to Guy Fawkes
them tae fuck - not literally, obviously.